Electric railway



(No Model.) l

E. THOMSON.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY. D No. 470,221.. Patented Mar. 8', 1892.

iviTED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

ELIHU THOMSON, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSICrNOR TO THE THOMSON- IIOUSTON ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CONNECTICUT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 470,221, dated March 8, 1892. l Application ned october 9,1889. seria No. 326,491. (No model.)

- To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIHU THOMSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of y Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful System of Electric r.Fraction and Power Haulage, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for maintain- Io ing electrical connection between a moving object-such as a car or other vehicle-and a stationary electric source-such as an electric line-connected with a generator and extending parallel to the path of movement of Y such object.

Myinvention consists, first, in the combination, with an elongated contact bar or plate elongated in the direction of movement of the vehicle, of a series of projectingline-con- 2o tacts pivoted to swing either forward or backward in the direction of movement of the vehicle and each normally out of connection with the line and separated from one another by spaces approximately equal to the length of the contact bar or plate, but alittle less than such length, and electric switches actuated by a part moving with the vehicle so as to place the projecting contacts in connection with the line in succession as they are en- 3o gaged by theelongated contact b ar or plate.

My invention consists, further, 1n a special means and combination for effecting this connection and in other details of the system to be hereinafter described and claimed.

3 5 The projecting contacts, which'in the case of a horizontally-moving object are dependent from suitable supports, are preferably pendulous or pivoted so as to swing in the arc of a circle.

4o Other features of the invention will be referred to in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings.

My invention is particularly applicable to use in mines where it is desired to use elec- 4 5 tric railways and to supply the motors from a main-line conductor placed close to the top or side of the galleries. In such case my invention affords a means whereby the line may be kept continually insulated and protected from 5o accidental contacts or short circuits to which it would be particularly liable, owing to its situation and to the presence of moisture and consequent leakage.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a line, a car, and devices embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the contact mounted on the car. Fig. 3 is a side view of the pendent contact enlarged. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 show modiiied constructions of the projecting contact. 6o

In Fig. l, C is a car or vehicle propelled electrically by the motor M,carried or other. wise connected with the driving-axles o f the wheels D. S is a long metallic plate, bar, or strip with its ends turned down and which may be made in the form of a trough or curved piece having a length somewhat greater than the total length of the vehicle. In fact, it maybe as long as convenient; but when curves exist it will be found necessary to shorten its 7o -length somewhat and to correspondingly increase the width. This strip, bar, or plate, elongated in the direction of its movement, is the' contact through which connection is made from the line or source to the circuit on the 7 5 vehicle. L is an insulated wire strung on suitable supports or in any way run along the track. At intervals along said wire or conductor, a little less than the efficient length of the contacts S on top of the vehicle, are placed 8o contact-making devices consisting of projecting contacts P, which bear upon or touch the conducting-strip S when the vehicle brings that strip along or alongside thereto. These projecting contacts are suitably hung or supported in any desired way, but are normally out of connection with the line. This may be accomplished by providing for them suitable supports of insulating material. In order to form electric connection between the 9o line and the contact bar, plate, or strip S, I provide suitable electric switches, which are mechanically actuated by engagement of someV device or part carried by the vehicle with-ia part connected to or carrying the switch. For convenience I utilize the projecting conc-1 tacts themselves as the carriers of the electric-switch contact ahd mount such projecting contacts, so that when they are moved by engagement of the elongated contact bar or 1%0 strip S with them the electric-switch contacts will be closed, and thus establish the electrical connection. The projecting contacts engaged by the bar may be mounted for this purpose in any desired manner. In Fig. l they are pend ulous and are provided with suitable circuitclosing or switch contacts p p, which come into connection with contacts .e .2', electrically connected to line by attachment thereto or in any other way connected to the source through suitable conductors, when the contacts P are swung to one side of their normal position. \Vhen this connection is made and the contact S is also in engagement with the contact P, the circuit from the line or source to the vehicle-circuit is completed. This vehicle-circuit may contain the usual variable resistance V in the circuit to the motor and return-conductor or may contain any other apparatus. The vehicle may also be provided with the usual reversinggear or current-reversing arrangements for changing the direction of motion. The track T may be made the medium ot return of the current by contact with the wheels ot the car, one end of the motor-circuit being attached to the axles. Any generator .G which furnishes the current to the line L and track T by its terminals may be used to furnish the power for driving the vehicle. It will now be seen that as the vehicle progresses it will touch in succession the pendent contacts P and close their connection with the line L at the points provided, at which moment the current will be fed into the strip S and to the motor for the propulsion of the vehicle. will also be seen that the line L is at very few points exposed toleakage of current and that it is not required that it run in astraight line between the pendants, but may curve or otherwise be diverted to get around obstacles. It may, in fact, run along the side of the gallery instead of the roof, with branching connections to the pendants. The contacts P themselves may be placed anywhere convenient,.even on the side, and the strip S also be placed in accordance with the position of the contacts.

The conducting-strip S is shown in Fig.2 as having edges e e lateral to it and upturned with flaring ends where curved down. This trough shape is for the purpose of better contacting with the contact-brushes or contact ends of the contacts P and bringing them into position, especially where the pendent contacts have lateral play, as well as a backward and forward play. The strip S might of course consist of a simple wire and the contacts P P2 be provided with grooved rollers running on the same, as indicated in Fig. G. The contacts might, as before intimated, con sist of simple contact-brushes secured to and carried by the line L, while the strip S would i be simply a flat plate of sufficient width coming into connection with the contact-brushes, as shown in Fig. 7. The spaces between the contact brushes or pendants P P2 on curves would be less-that is, they would not be separated by so great an interval-and the ItI -the vehicle.

the wire L when the pendant is thrown out of vertical by the movement of the vehicle under it. Suitable springs may be employed also for holding the pendant in its middle position, thus assisting the action of gravity and, it strong enough, preventing themfrom moving by contact of the bodies of men with them. The pendants, as seen in Fig. 1, may be supported from insulators I, inserted into the rock in case of mining, thus givingaiirm support to the pend ants and, in fact, making a snpport also for the line when so desired. It is sometimes desirable that the depending contact itself beinsulated by a covering of insulating material, and that the terminal contactbrush B at the contact end be also covered from contact, except with the contact of the vehicle, which is intended to engage with it. Thus in Fig. 4 L is the line,P is the pendent contact covered all over with an insulator, while B is the exposed brush at the lower end, normally covered by a conical cap or shield K, forced down by a spring X when the strip S is drawn away by the motion of the vehicle, thus covering the brush B until the approach of the strip S, which lifts the conical cap K and exposes the end of: the brush for contact with said strip.

In Fig. 5 a modified form of line-contact is shown. The rod P2 enters a socket or tubular support N, made, preferably, of insulating material, while I)2 is of conducting material and terminates in a roller R, which makes contact with the plate or wire S, carried by At Z2 is a switch-contact space, which is open when the part S is not engaged with the roller R; but on the lifting of the roller R by the movement of the vehicle the switching-contacts at Z2 are closed, so as to feed current from the line L to the roller R for the operation of the vehicle. Many minor details operating in the same way and subserving the same purpose could be designed, as will be well understood by most engineers.

It is obvious that my invention is as well applicable to two sets of lines and contacts for a double line as to the case where the :r0.7 turn-circuit is made by the rails instead of by the additional line.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, with an electric line, of a series of pivoted contacts normally out of electrical connection therewith and each pivoted to swing either forward or backward in the direction of movement of the vehicle, a contact bar, plate, or strip carried by a vehicle and of a length slightly greater than the distance between the successive projecting contacts and adapted to engage with them in IOC IIO

succession, and electric switches the contacts of which are mounted on suitable supports, which are engaged by a part moving with the vehicle and are thereby moved positively into circuit-closing position, so as to establish electrical connection between the line and the series of projecting contacts as the elongated contact bar or plate makes connection with the said projecting contacts.

2. The combination, with a vehicle or carrier, of a contact bar, plate, or strip moving therewith and elongated in the direction of movement, a series of swinging projecting line-contacts, each pivoted to swing in the direction of movement of the Vehicle either forward or backward and separated by spaces approximately equal to the effective conducting length of said contact plate, bar, or strip and respectively normally insulated from the electric line, a'nd electric switches normally open and having contacts carried by the movable projecting contacts, as described, for establishing connection between the line and the projecting contacts in succession through the positive movement of the latter in either direction, produced by engagement of the elongated bar or strip carried by the vehicle.

3. The combination, with the electric line, of a series of pendent movable contacts normally out of connection therewith and each hung above the way on asuitable pivotorhinge arranged to permit the pendent contact to swing in a plane parallel to the movement of the vehicle in either direction, an elongated contact bar or strip carried by a movable su pport and adapted to make connection with said contacts in succession, and circuit-closers carried by said movable contacts and adapted to make connection between the same and the electric line when the contacts are moved in either direction by engagement of the elongated bar or strip.

1t. The combination, with the series of piv- Vforward or backward.

5. The combination, with the elongated movable contact, of the series of normallyinsulated pivoted contacts, each hung as a pendnlous contact arm or lever adapted to swing in both directions from normal in a direction parallel tothe line of track, an electric line, and circuit-closers carried by said pivoted contacts at i'ront and rear for making connection with the line when said contacts are swung out of normal position. 6. The combination, with the series of contacts normally insulated from the line of the protective insulating-caps extending down over the contact ends, as and for the purpose described.

'7. rPhe combination, with the line-contact, of the movable shield normally covering the lower or contact-making end.

8. The combination, with the series of projecting line-contacts, of the .horizontal contact strip or plate carried by the vehicle and having upturned sides and turned-down ends.

Signed at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, this 4th day of October, A. D. 1889.

ELIHU THOMSON.

Witnesses:

HERMANN LEMP, J. WESLEY GIBBONEY. 

